The Medusa Touch

The manner in which the film was chronographed was somewhat unique. In real time the main character, Morlar, is comatized by severe head trauma. In fact the movie opens with his attempted murder. The unfolding of events in the ensuing investigation are presented with smooth transitions from flashback to present in order to create a sense of fatalistic inevitability. The director takes a very difficult path to achieve this but I think he pulled it off very effectively. Look for little tricks to smooth out the staccato chronological transitions. Small similarities between outgoing and incoming scenes create a more seamless effect.Also, the sounds of a former scene would linger for a couple of seconds after the transition, further uniting past & present to emphasize the inevitable hopelessness of the inspectors situation. It also serves to demonstrate Morlar's indomitable, fatalistic will.

All the characters are well (and cleverly)cast, particularly Richard Burton as Morlar. VonGreenway's book comments on the intensity of Morlar's character and his riveting gaze. Burton was obviously intimately familiar with the text as his rendition of Morlar is, to say the least, riveting.

The apocryphal elements added by the director, the cataclysmic disasters vastly improve the story's big-screen appeal, even if they were a bit of a departure from the text. The director simplifies the text by only indirectly referring to Morlar's political agenda. To follow the text in this would be setting up an entirely different story and would distract from the immediacy of the peril Morlar represents for the inspector and the psychiatrist.

The "tongue in cheek" manner in which these two meet serves to show a comprehensive understanding of the text, it gives clear notice (to those familiar with the book) the text cannot realistically be followed in every way. "I'm sorry I was expecting a man." the inspector explains his reaction to her. "That's alright, I was expecting an English Inspector." She responds. This, of course, was a reference to the characters as they appeared in the book.

This is a well directed film, making sense of a difficult text in an acceptable time frame. Richard Burton was an excellent choice as Morlar, he has a dominating presence that lends well to the character. These things along with an excellent rendition of a sensational, compelling story make the Medusa Touch one of the best suspense films ever.

'The Medusa Touch' fits as one of those films that certainly deserves to be called a masterpiece that became a well kept secret. If you are a fan of the genre and haven't seen it, what a rare find it is! Contributors to threads of a remake of this film are filled with screams against that idea. And deservedly so. Any attempt to remake this classic would be a travesty.

Richard Burton's excellent performance, and surly the role fits Burton's acting style like a well tailored glove. Casting him as an intelligent and well versed author, whose spoken (and written) dialog is scripted to delve deep into a profound command of the English language, is right up Burton's alley. I see much written here about Burton's outstanding performance and they are certainly correct.

It almost seems an oversight however, that the performance given by Lino Ventura (Inspector Brunel) is as fine a work of acting as can be. Officially a 'supporting actor' in the film, one could hardly tell. Cast as a French Exchange Detective who has a suspicious, slightly non-trusting relationship with his English Scotland Yard counterparts, Ventura turns in a nearly flawless role, and makes the idea work exquisitely.

Often while deep in puzzled thought and shock, mere facial expressions from Inspector Brunel are perfect additions to Ventura's role. To many thread do not topic Lino Ventura's excellent acting in this outstanding classic gem of a thriller. Perhaps due to many fans in the English speaking world never having heard of Lino Ventura, and figuring he was a 'small-fame' actor. Nothing could be further from the truth. Ventura was Italian citizenship and birth, while living the majority of his life in France.

Ventura was a hugely acclaimed and decorated actor in France, who played some iconic roles there. Casting Lino Ventura in this film was no stretch, as his timeless performance attests. The filmmakers were fortunate to land him. In many ways, Ventura's performance helped mold this movie into the hidden classic 'The Medusa Touch' will forever be.

Don't you just hate it when you think of a review title only to find that somebody has beaten you to it!!?? So "I have a gift for disaster" was to be my first choice. Anyway the late, great Richard Burton is sat at home watching the TV when a visitor calls by and bashes him over the head. The police are called for an apparent murder but turns out that he's not dead. Taken to hospital he remains in a comatose state apart from his brain which is driving the attached monitor nuts! Burton plays a writer with telekinetic powers, he discovers these when a boy and uses them to kill his nanny, then his parents. Much of the film has him telling his life story in a series of flash backs, I liked this part of the plot a lot. As a middle aged man he has now set his sights on the mass destruction of innocents. Can he be stopped? These type of movies were popular around this time, titles such as Carrie, Patrick, Psychic Killer and The Fury spring to mind, even The Omen, and The Medusa Touch is a good addition. I can remember watching this on TV at least twice when I was a kid and several decades later I came across a nice print being screened on a British TV channel that specialises in older movies. It was great to revisit it. Burton was without question one of the finest actors to come out of the UK and I really enjoyed his performance here, but I thought the rest of the cast that includes many familiar faces to be good also. The movie does build to a gripping finale, this film is horror, thriller and disaster all rolled into one.

Though top billed in this, Richard Burton features but sparingly as a man with a tortured past. His recollections to his psychiatrist "Dr. Zonfeld" (Lee Remick) are relayed to police inspector "Brunel" (Lino Ventura) after he ("Morlar") is found savagely beaten at his London flat. As the investigation expands, it is clear that the normal rules do not apply here. "Morlar" shouldn't even be alive, yet his brain activity coupled with a spate of accidents and with the ever more revealing - but sensational - revelations about his disaster-prone past lead "Brunel" and the Assistant Commissioner (Harry Andrews) to a conclusion that, well, they just cannot believe. Ventura is good in this, as is the understated, but effective Remick. There are plenty of twists that keep the obvious from becoming too obvious, too soon, and when called upon, Burton contributes well in a sort of manic, epitome of evil, manner. It is a bit dialogue heavy at times, but the last twenty minutes are great drama well put together. A good bit of telekinetic terror!

I remember seeing this on TV many years ago, and I'm glad I caught it at such a young age. Back then it was really scary, but even today - when we're blessed (or cursed) with visual effects that are so convincing - it is still capable of sending a shiver up my spine.

The film's pace is methodical, but Richard Burton admirably conveys a sense of quiet menace as he loses his grip on sanity during a series of flashbacks. The acting by the other leads is solid enough, but the film is all about Burton's chilling psychic powers, and when they are let loose at the film's climax, the result is genuinely shocking.